Olin College of Engineering
DigitalCommons@Olin
2011 AHS Capstone Projects
AHS Capstone Projects
10-1-2011
American Steam. The Growth of the American
Engineer Through the Transfer and Development
of Steam Engine Technology
Nikolas Martelaro
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Nikolas.Martelaro@alumni.olin.edu
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Martelaro, Nikolas, "American Steam. The Growth of the American Engineer Through the Transfer and Development of Steam Engine
Technology" (2011). 2011 AHS Capstone Projects. Paper 2.
http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/ahs_capstone_2011/2
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Nikolas Martelaro
17 December 2011
American Steam
The growth of the American engineer through the transfer and development of steam
engine technology.
Often regarded as one of the most important inventions of the eighteenth
century, the steam engine was the driving force behind both the European and
American industrial revolutions of the nineteenth century. The steam engine
revolutionized American manufacturing and transportation and formed the foundation
for America’s economic and technical dominance in later years. Originally developed in
England in 1712, steam engine technology would make its way across the Atlantic for
use in American industry in 1753. The migration of the steam engine to America was
not, however, a simple transfer of technology from a developed nation to a developing
one. Before the American Revolution, there was little need for steam engines due to
their limited functionality. In addition, America’s small population and reliance on
England for manufactured goods did not warrant the production capabilities of steam
power. However, America was forced to become more self-reliant after the revolution.
With a growing population and limited trade with England, the steam engine became a
more attractive power source to be utilized for manufacturing. England chose this
moment to place a ban on steam engine export, forcing America to develop and
implement the technology independently. The young United States lacked the
technological capabilities to immediately employ steam power, but its eventual
development built up a capacity for American engineering that spanned far beyond the
steam engine alone. The engineering knowledge and attitude gained through selfreliance gave rise to many American industries including centralized manufacturing,
steamboats, and railways. Although each of these industries has its own unique and
1
rich history, their origins all begin with steam engines and the engineers who made
them.
Invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 and built to pump water from mines, the
steam engine was not used in America until the 1750’s. During the forty years before it
reached American shores, the steam engine was an indispensable tool for English
miners. However, high fuel costs and physical speed limitations made it uneconomical
to run outside the mining industry. Thus, it remained a relatively unmodified workhorse
for over sixty years until the English inventor, James Watt, made a number of
improvements to the engine, increasing its power, speed, and functionality. Watt’s
improvements allowed for the proliferation of steam power across a variety of
manufacturing industries.
The story of the steam engine during much of the late 1700’s is primarily
English, with both the invention and major improvements to the engine made by English
mechanics and engineers. It was not until 1753 that the Newcomen steam engine made
its way to American soil. Although the Newcomen steam engine did much to prepare
the country for industrialization, by demanding improvements in metalworking and
attracting emigrant engineers to the country, it was not until the transfer of the Watt
steam engine that steam power was used to industrialize the nation. While
industrialization was occurring quite rapidly in England with the new Watt engine,
transfer of the technology to America took many years and was a slow process.
Although this process was slow due to geographic, economic, and political reasons, it
did not inhibit the development and growth of the American engineer. Rather, the
unique process by which steam engine technology transferred from England to America
2
helped to foster a spirit of entrepreneurial engineering throughout the country. By
inhibiting the ability to simply purchase engines from England directly, Americans built
up their capacity to design and build engines on their own. In developing these engines,
many of the country’s basic manufacturing and metal working capabilities were
improved. Through harnessing the power of steam, industrialists were able to automate,
increase, and improve the production of many goods, from flour and sugar milling to iron
and copper rolling. The improvement of these industries would lay the foundation for
America’s technical and economic dominance in future years.
The Introduction of Steam Power to America (1753 – 1800)
The first steam engine used in America was a Newcomen engine bought by
Phillip Schuyler, the owner of a New Jersey copper mine. Originally ordered in 1748
from the Hornblower family in England, it took five years for Josiha Hornblower to have
parts made and transported to America. Hornblower arrived with many parts in triplicate
as there was no one in America with the engineering knowledge or manufacturing
capability to build the components. Two years after Hornblower’s arrival the engine was
complete and operational. The engine was used at the mine over the course of the next
40 years until the early 1800’s when the mine was converted to a machine works and
the engine was replaced with a more efficient Watt engine.1 The foresight of Josiah
Hornblower speaks greatly to the limited capabilities of colonial America during the mid
1
Pursell, pg. 4
3
1700’s. Even so, the simple transfer of the Newcomen engine sowed the seeds for
American engineering to develop through technology and knowledge transfer.
The Schuyler copper mine engine was not the only Newcomen engine operating
in America. It was however, possibly the only English made engine. Other engines
were American made and based on the principles seen from the Schuyler engine. For
example, a Newcomen engine was employed in New York in 1776 to help supply the
city with water. The engine was quite useful and the builder, Christopher Colles, was
regarded as a “mechanical genius.” Another Newcomen engine was erected in Rhode
Island in 1780 by Brown and Colles for the use of mine clearing. While all three
Newcomen engines were functional, they were all costly to run and maintain. To
understand the high running costs requires an understanding of the engine technology
itself.
The basic design of the engine is that of a solid wood beam rotating around a
pivot as shown in Figure 1. One end of the beam is attached to a water pump via a
chain, while the other end of the beam is attached directly to a piston and cylinder
assembly. The engine’s neutral position is with the pump end of the beam down and the
cylinder fully open. Steam is created in a boiler and then released into the cylinder,
expunging all of the air from the cylinder and creating a positive pressure of roughly 15
psi. Water is then sprayed into the steam filled cylinder, which causes the steam to
condense. This causes a partial vacuum to form and allows for atmospheric pressure to
push down on the top of the cylinder, rotating the beam about its axis and raising the
pump. Since the linkage between the pump and beam and cylinder and beam is made
with chains, the engine only works in tension. Thus, it is a single acting engine, only
4
doing work on the down stroke of the cylinder. After the stroke is complete, a valve is
opened letting air fill the cylinder, pushing the piston upward. The engine then returns to
the neutral state and the process is repeated. This process is highly inefficient as the
entire cylinder is cooled when the steam condenses. The cylinder is the reheated when
new steam enters the system. This means that extra energy must go into heating the
cylinder to so that the steam does not condense on its own when entering the system.
This extra energy required to heat the cylinder ultimately leads to more fuel
consumption and subsequently a higher operational cost.2 This limitation is speculated
to be one of the factors for the Newcomen engines limited use in America.
Historians pose a number of other reasons for why the Newcomen engine was
not widely used in America. Steven Lubar of the Smithsonian Institute states that the
country was simply not able to make quality engines. It was true that the young America
was primarily an agricultural economy and had limited manufacturing capabilities. 3
However, by the time of the Revolution, manufacturers were rapidly improving their
capabilities and many of the techniques involved with canon casting and boring
transferred directly to making high quality cylinders. Historian Carroll Pursell claims that
there was simply little economic need for steam power. On top of the high amount of
fuel required, the Newcomen engine had limited functionality. Although useful for
pumping water, the single action engine not useful to run machines such as mills and
lathes. Pursell uses Brown and Colles engine as example of engine with little economic
need. Pursell states that ‘Brown and Colles engines were constructed to provide for
rather marginal needs; only the Schuyler engine provided an indispensable solution to a
2
3
Pursell, pg. 4 & Furguson, pgs 77-78
Lubar, pg 43
5
serious problem.’ 4 Although Brown and Colles’ engines were not economical to run,
they did spread the use of steam around the country and aided in building the nation’s
manufacturing capabilities. Like many future steam engineers, Brown and Colles’ work
may not have been financially successful, but the knowledge and capabilities that they
developed would prove invaluable to developing the foundation for future American
engineers.
In addition to improving the nation’s manufacturing capabilities, the use of
Newcomen steam engines marked the start of both technology transfer and engineering
knowledge transfer from England to America. Schuyler, along with Jacob Mark, and
Nicholas I. Roosevelt formed a collective in 1793 as the ‘New Jersey Copper Mine
Association.’ They contracted Hornblower to rebuild the original engine and set up a
variety of other industrial works such as a machine shop and foundry. The works were
later renamed ‘Soho’ in honor of the Soho Works of Watt and Boulton in England.5
During this time, Watt and Boulton were regarded as the world’s premiere engine
makers. Imitating its English counterpart, the American Soho most likely utilized this
name to market that its engines and industrial works were comparable to highly
regarded English technology. This imitation suggests that engineering quality and
capability was becoming increasingly important in America.
With this growing need for engineering capability, the American Soho became a
center for engine building and acted as direct link for technology and knowledge transfer
from England. For example, one of Soho’s most respected engine builders, James
Smallman, was trained at Boulton and Watt’s Soho Works in England before arriving in
4
5
Pursell, pg. 10
Pursell, pg. 6
6
America.6 This transfer of knowledge was utilized in training many American engineers
in engine design and fabrication. From Soho, a number of engineers such as
Stoudinger and Rhodes would later go on to build engines for endeavors such as
millworks and steamboats.
7
Utilizing the improvements made by Watt and the
knowledge built in shops such as Soho, American engineers would begin to drastically
change the industrial landscape of America, employing steam power in almost every
branch of manufacturing and transportation.
The Proliferation and Expansion of Steam Power (1800 – 1850)
The introduction of the Watt steam engine brought about a surge of steam
power. With increased speeds and power due to the increased efficiency of the engine,
more machines were able to be run with higher fuel efficiency and lower costs. After the
revolution, the economic state of the United States of America was also in demand for
manufacturing. Without the strong ties to English manufacturing during the colonial era,
the United States needed to be more self-reliant in its production of both agricultural and
manufactured products. The young and expanding republic also needed better methods
for transportation to deliver goods around the country. The introduction of the Watt
engine into the United States helped to improve all aspects of industrialization. All of
these industrial gains stem directly from the technical improvements Watt made to the
steam engine.
6
[B. Henry Latrobe], An answer to the Select and Common Councils of Philadelphia, on the subject of the
Subject of a Plan for Supplying the City with Water, &c. (no place, 2 March 1799), page 3; Proposals for
Establishing a Company, For the purpose of employing the surplus power of the STEAM-ENGINE
Erected near the river Schuykill: Under the Title and Firm of the PHILIADELPHIA ROLLING COMPANY
(no place, [about 1800]), page 3. The assertion that Smallman was associated with Boulton and Watt has
never been questioned although it rests only on the statements of Latrobe and Roosevelt. From Pursell,
pg. 30
7
Pursell, pg 33
7
Watt conducted his experiments to improve the steam engine in 1776. His first
improvement came about while experimenting with a Newcomen engine. To improve
the engine initially, he created a separate condenser, which allowed the steam to
condense back to liquid water in a separate chamber instead of the main cylinder.
Because the main cylinder was not heated and cooled with every stroke, the engine
could run significantly faster and did not require as much fuel. Watt continued to
improve the engine over the next ten years and in 1786 had made a number of changes
to the engine, shown in Figure 2. Watt’s second major improvement was fully enclosing
the main cylinder. This allowed steam to be let in on both sides of the piston head,
powering the motion of the engine during both the up stroke and the down stroke. This
improvement gave need for the parallel motion Watt linkage, which allowed for the use
of rigid rods (instead of chains) to move the engine’s piston and crank. These rigid rods
could transmit power in both tension and compression and helped, along with the
double action of the engine, to increase the speed of the engines. In addition to speed
and power increases, the double acting motion allowed for the transformation of linear
beam motion to rotary output shaft motion. Watt also improved the engine by adding a
flyball governor to control engine speed.8 These improvements allowed for the use of
stationary engines in a much more cost effective. By not heating and cooling the
working cylinder, less fuel was needed to operate the engine. This decreased the
operational costs and made the engine more economically accessible for different
works. In addition, the increased speed and power along with rotary motion allowed for
the engine to be used as power sourced for mills, lathes, and gins. Overall, these
improvements made the Watt engine the new workhorse for English manufacturing.
8
Pursell, pg 13 & Furguson, pg. 79-80
8
While it would seem that the technology would find its way across the Atlantic quickly
due to its usefulness, it would take many years for America to utilize the improvements
made by Watt.
During the time that Watt was making his improvements on the steam engine,
America was fighting for its independence from England. Although there was an
increased need for metalworking and manufacturing to support the war, the use of
steam engines was still not economical or reasonable with the Newcomen engine. This
war-effort manufacturing was directly useful in the years after the war for developing
Watt engines in the United States. Improved cannon boring technology resulted in
better and more accurate cylinders to be made for new engines. Also, the buildup of
metal works and foundries resulted in the supply of raw materials needed to construct
the engines. In the years following the war, however, the main challenge for the country
was adequate transportation.9 With a growing population, there was a need for more
centralized manufacturing. This in turn meant that goods needed to be transported
around the country to reach customers. Thus, many inventors attempted to build
functioning steamboats equipped with Watt engines. However, in 1785, a ban
disallowed the sale of steam engines outside of England. This embargo enabled
England to slow the transfer of steam engine technology and knowledge. The slow
diffusion of technological knowledge from England along with the trade embargo limited
the production and spread of steam engine technology for about twenty years within the
United States. Without the ability to import an English engine, Americans needed to
design and build the engines themselves. While this would slow United States economic
growth and time to industrialization, it would allow for American engineers to build a
9
Pursell, 18
9
foundation on self-reliance rather than simple technology transfer. With the ability to
engineer technological systems, American engineers would apply steam engine
technology to a number of different industries.
The Watt engine was employed in a number of uses from automated grist mills,
rice mills, and sugar cane mills to iron and copper rolling mills. It was also employed in
the use of cutting stone and running cotton gins. As the United States became more
industrialized due to a growing population and expansion westward, the steam engine
began to replace animal and human powered machines. The increasing number of
goods desired in the market also caused a shift from goods made in the home to larger
manufacturing sites which could produce goods at a much higher rate. The increased
rate of production required more power than natural power sources such as rivers and
streams could provide. As manufacturing expanded, mills began to crowd and line the
shores of rivers and streams. By the early 1800's there was little real estate left to build
new mills unless the mill was intended to be built many miles upstream. The steam
engine afforded power to be supplied in locations away from water sources and allowed
for the expansion of manufacturing into both the west, which had limited access to water
power, and urban areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In many urban cities,
steam power could be utilized on relatively small pieces of real estate to run machinery
for the production of goods.10 This compact utility gave freedom from rivers and streams
and allowed American cities to become manufacturing hubs that would foster American
engineering. These cities increased the concentration of engineers in an area and thus
increased the exchange of ideas and innovations. These exchanges would lead to
faster development and greater expansion of steam power during the 1800’s.
10
Pursell, pg. 132
10
The Rise of the American Engineer
Although most steam engine technology was invented and developed in
England, there were still some individuals in the United States who made significant
improvements and developments to the engine. These individuals became the first
American engineers to lay the foundation for the development of future engineering.
A number of factors contributed to the development of the American engineer.
The ban on engine export from England in 1785 was one of the biggest factors in the
development of the American engineer. 11 After the Revolution, America focused on
building a self-sustaining nation, independent from England. However, given the political
relationship between the United States and England, transfer of technology and
technological knowledge was quite slow. Due to the ban on technology transfer,
Americans were left to develop the technology on their own. This self-driven
development is evident in the story of John Fitch, the inventor of the first American
steamboat.
In 1785, Fitch wrote to the American Philosophical Society, an investor in science
and technology during the era, requesting to buy a steam engine from England to install
in his steamboat. However, due to the ban on exportation, Fitch was unable to purchase
an engine from England. Undeterred, Fitch decided to build his own engine for the boat.
Having secured monopolies from a number of states to build an engine, Fitch set out to
form a company that would aid in the development of the engine and boat. Using
knowledge of Watt’s steam engine improvements, Fitch designed his own engine. He
then corresponded with prominent engine builders in the United States at the time,
Hornblower and Colles, to check the plans of his engine. Hornblower replied to Fitch
11
Pursell, pg. 13
11
stating that the design was too complicated to work in practice. Given that Fitch did not
have the experience or technological knowledge behind building steam engines, he
deferred to the judgment of Hornblower. However, Hornblower, a builder of Newcomen
engines, was limited by his own knowledge of engine building. The advice would prove
to lead down a “path of tradition rather than innovation – a tradition more irrelevant than
hostile.” 12 Fitch ultimately built an obsolete Newcomen engine to power his boat.
Despite numerous setbacks and multiple, unsuccessful engine builds, Fitch successfully
built a functioning steamboat in 1787 named Perseverance. The boat, propelled by
linked canoe paddles as shown in Figure 5, traveled up the Delaware River at four miles
per hour and proved the viability of steam as a locomotive force.13
Fitch continued to build steamboats, and a year later successfully built a
passenger boat that ran between Trenton and Philadelphia. Although technically
successful, his venture was never financially viable. The development of the
steamboats had cost a significant amount of money and the boats were not of the
highest quality. One of Fitch’s main disadvantages was his inexperienced team.
American manufacturing capabilities had improved in some ways since the Revolution;
however they were nowhere near that of English quality. Fitch was never able to build a
financially successful steam boat during his career and after a year of unsuccessfully
seeking funding, he retired to Kentucky where he died by his own hand in 1798.14
The story of John Fitch is a sad tale of a man ahead of his time. Although unable
to become financially successful, Fitch was able to prove the viability of steam power as
a locomotive force. More importantly, Fitch’s venture built engineering knowledge from
12
Pursell, pg. 20
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi14.htm
14
Pursell, pg. 22
13
12
the ground up. One of Fitch’s associates, William Thornton recognized this and stated,
“we made the whole Engine, & even formed the Engineers out of common Black Smiths
not one of whom had ever seen an Engine.” 15 Due to his inability to simply buy an
engine from England, Fitch and his steamboat venture were forced to train and educate
mechanics and workers to become engineers. Although the work of Robert Fulton years
later would achieve financial success, it would not have been possible without the work
of Fitch. As Fitch stated, “We have by this means introduced Engineers into our
Country, and Consequently, one of the first powers of Nature into our Empire, which
may be useful in most great works.”16 The demand for engineering knowledge created
by the desire to utilize steam for transportation helped build a network of engineers and
manufacturing processes that would later aid in the proliferation of steam power in the
United States.
The ban placed on steam engine export from England was implemented with the
purpose of protecting English engineering knowledge. Though it may have slowed
transfer of knowledge to America, it did not prevent it. More so, it put into motion the
need for Americans to build their own engineering knowledge. This “Do-it-yourself”
attitude characterized many future inventors and engineers and spurred then to improve
and develop new technologies. This entrepreneurial attitude was exhibited by another of
the first American engineers, Oliver Evans. Unlike other engineers of the time, Evans
was born and raised his entire life in America. In 1782 he developed a water-powered
automatic flourmill, capable of taking raw material and producing a finished product
15
William Thornton to John Stevens, 8 July 1809, Thornton papers, volume 3, LC. From Pursell, pg. 21 –
capitalization in the original
16
Quoted in Westcott, Fitch, page 201 – From Pursell, pg. 21
13
without human intervention.17 When Evans applied for his patent on the automatic mill,
he also applied for patents on steam powered carriages. Although his automatic mill
was regarded as genius, his drawings and representations for steam powered
transportation were written off as “insane” by the Pennsylvania patent committee. 18
however, this did not discourage Evans and he continued to develop his ideas for steam
power throughout the following years. In 1802, Evans erected his first high-pressure
steam engine, which he called the Columbian type engine. He made significant changes
to Watt’s steam engine design that allowed his to run at much higher pressures and
speeds. The two main differences with the Columbian steam engine, shown in Figure 4,
and the Watt engine were the noncondensing action and the grasshopper beam. Unlike
the engines of Newcomen and Watt, the Evans engine did not condense steam. Rather,
the engine simply used the expansive force of steam to push the piston head in each
direction. At the end of a stroke, the steam was exhausted. This increased the speed
and efficiency of the engine as it did not heat and cool a separate condensing chamber
and did not require time for the steam to condense during operation. The engine’s other
improvement was the grasshopper beam mechanism, which simplified the linkage that
translated the piston’s linear motion into rotary motion.19 This linkage removed Watt’s
costly and complicated rod assembly and exchanged it for a simpler rocker assembly.
This first Columbian engine was utilized in part to grind plaster of Paris at Evans’
workshop, but also as a promotional engine for spectators and potential customers.
Shortly after building this first engine for 3,700 dollars, Evans began work on his first
commercial steam engine. From this point until 1819 Evans made and sold high17
Pursell, pg. 44
Kirby et.al, pgs. 172-173
19
Pursell pg. 44 & Kirby et. al. pg. 173
18
14
pressure steam engines for industrial use through his Mars ironworks industrial shop in
Philiadelphia. He believed “that this invention will, when applied to all the useful
purposes, yield ten times more benefit to my country than my improvements on the
manufacture of flour.” 20 Indeed, Evans’ high-pressure steam engines did make a
significant impact on American manufacturing; however, he was unable to see the
impact during his lifetime.
While Evans was more successful than Fitch in his engineering endeavors, he
was never fully appreciated during his time. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the most
prominent consultant steam engineer of the time, actively discredited Evans on his high
pressure engines. Latrobe stated that “the high pressure engine was too sensitive to the
pressure of steam in the boiler, thus moving ‘unequally & precariously.’” Latrobe, whose
financial success was built around Watt engines, insisted that Watt engines were ‘as
safe as a clock.’ Even in later years, when the usage of high-pressure steam engines
became widespread and replaced Watt engines, Latrobe still dismissed Evans, and
instead promoted other engine designs.21 Due to lack of recognition, Evan became quite
discouraged in his later years. He wrote in his work, The Abortion of the Young Steam
Engineer’s Guide, “He that studies and writes on the improvements of the arts and
sciences labours to benefit generations yet unborn, For it is improbable that his
Contemporaries will pay any attention to him.”22 Most of Evans’ work has been lost, as
he felt so disheartened over the years by his lack of recognition that “in order to remove
from his sons the temptation the follow him as an inventor, he proposed to burn his
20
[Oliver Evans], Oliver Evans and His Counsel, Who Are Engaged in Defense of His Patent Rights… (no
place, [1816], page 33 n.) – From Pursell, pg. 45
21
Pursell, pg. 114
22
Niles’ Weekly Register, volume 46 (5 July 1834), page 351 from Pursell, Pg. 50 (capitalization from
original)
15
papers.” 23 In 1819, Evans’ Mars ironworks burned as well, leaving him poor and
heartbroken. It is speculated that this heartbreak eventually lead to his death the next
day. Although all of Evans’ work was eventually destroyed, his legacy lived on in high
pressure steam engines across the United States.
Just as Fitch had developed his own engines and helped to develop American
engineering, Evans’ self-developed engines aided in establishing engineering in
America. The development of high-pressure steam engines pushed American
engineering not only to compete with English engineering, but also laid the foundation
for American engineering dominance. Regarded as the ‘Watt of the west’ by many of his
contemporaries, Evans proved that Americans could not only implement technology, but
could also innovate on the state of the art. It is at this point that American engineering
begins to develop more on its own.
At the time of Evans’ death in 1819, America was on the verge of proliferating
locomotive transportation. High-pressure engines, with their speed, power, and compact
design, ran these trains across the continent. Although the designs for rail engines were
more sophisticated than Evans’ engine design, they relied on the same principles of
operation. Due to Evans’ early work on high-pressure engines, America was able to
match the level of English technology by about 1830. This suggests that without Evans’
work, America may have continued to remain 20 years behind England in terms of
technological and industrial development. However, with the propagation of railways,
America would soon rise to become a dominant technological and economic nation.
Technology Transfer
23
Pursell, pg. 48
16
The transfer of the steam engine from England to America took many decades.
While the English were quick to innovate and implement the Watt engine in a number of
industries in the 1780s, it was not until the early 1800s that America fully realized the
power of steam. While the slow adoption of the steam engine in America delayed the
industrialization of the country, the mode of technology transfer, or rather, the limited
form of technology transfer bred the need for engineering knowledge in the growing
America.
Technological historian Thomas Hughes developed a simple yet descriptive
model for describing the evolution and development or technology systems. These
technological systems are defined as having five components: physical components,
organizations, scientific components, legislative artifacts, and natural resources. In the
case of the steam engine, the engine itself was the physical component. Organizations
included ironworks such as Soho or Mars. Technical engineering knowledge brought
from Europe and developed in America was the scientific component. Both the English
and American governments, through trade bans and laws made up the legislative
artifacts. Lastly, metal sources and coal mines were some the natural resources used
during the development of the steam engine. These system components each
interconnected and affected each other. For example, trade bans caused limitations of
the transfer of engine technology. This in turn slowed the development of physical
steam engine manufacturing in the United States.
Hughes describes the evolution of a technological system through five phases: 1)
Invention, 2) Development, 3) Innovation, 4) Transfer, and 5) Growth, Competition, and
Consolidation. Invention is defined as either radical or conservative development. This
17
entails creating new physical artifacts or expanding and improving existing physical
artifacts. These inventions are realized through inventor-entrepreneurs, defined as
individuals who build new physical artifacts by leveraging all technical and non-technical
system components. Development is process by which an invention become useful and
accepted by society. It is at this point that the new technology begins to make an impact
on much of the non-technical system components, such as organizations and
legislature. Innovation is the stage when the system has grown enough to begin
function using all components of technological systems. It is at this stage that the
technology grows in use. Transfer occurs during many stages of technological system
development. It is the process by which physical artifacts and scientific knowledge
spread to different locations. Lastly, the stage of growth, competition, and consolidation
is where a technology becomes more widely used and competes with other
technologies for use in the market. This development process leads to a technology’s
success when all interrelated components reach a stable and optimized state. The story
of the steam engine in America resides within the final three components of the model,
Innovation, Transfer, and Growth.
The invention of the steam engine occurred in Europe and was almost
exclusively done in England. The work of Newcomen realized the useful power of steam
to empty mines. However, due to the physical limitations of the machine it would not be
useful outside of mining until Watt redesigned it in 1776. Watt’s developments of the
steam engine initially stemmed from his academic work at Edinburgh University, where
he modified and improved a Newcomen engine by separating the condenser from the
working cylinder. Watt furthered his development of the engine when he began a
18
partnership with Matthew Boulton. Boulton, through financial support and a successful
career in manufacturing, aided Watt in building numerous engines for industrial use.24
As Hughes states, the inventor-entrepreneur (in this case Watt & Boulton) acted as the
driving force behind producing steam engines for industrial use. However, along with
the technical developments of the Watt engine, the economic environment in England
was also ready to support widespread usage of the engine for mining and factory works.
At this point in history, it would have been quite advantageous to have England
as a technological partner. With new manufacturing needs, the steam engine
technology developed by Watt would have been readily accepted by the United States.
Additionally, the transfer would have been made simply through the importation of
engines from England to the United States. However, due to the political tension
between the two countries following the Revolution and England’s desire to retain its
technical dominance, a ban was placed on the export of steam engines, engine
builders, and general information on engine technology. While this could not stall the
migration of steam engine technology, it did not allow for the simple transfer of the
machine from one country to the other until many years later, when Watt’s patent
expired and the ban on steam engine export was lifted. Instead, American inventorentrepreneurs were forced to exist in both the development and innovation stages of
Hughes systems model. For example, John Fitch originally intended only to innovate
with the steam engine by using it as a propulsion force for boats. He was forced into
developing steam engine technology in the United States due to his inability to obtain an
English engine. Developing and innovating engine technology appears to have been too
much for Fitch to accomplish given the lack of scientific and technical knowledge.
24
Pursell, pg. 13
19
Through perseverance, Fitch was able to succeed on a technical front, developing both
a functioning engine and boat. However, his financial success was limited due to the
high cost of development and the limited need for steamboat technology in the late the
early 1790s. In contrast, by the time that Fulton began development of his steamboat,
steam engines could be purchased from England. Thus, Fulton could forego the
development phase, utilizing both scientific knowledge and technically able workers to
innovate and commercialize the steamboat.
In the early 1800s, western expansion, increased population, and a growing selfreliance due to a bustling industrial economy created an ideal atmosphere for the steam
engine to gain dominance as the major industrial power source. With smaller new
improvements made by both English and American engineers, the steam engine was
able to provide power to the Western territories with limited or non-existent water based
power sources. Even the rivers and streams of New England, the main power source in
the region for decades, were not able to match the power output of steam. By 1857, the
town of Wilmington, Massachusetts had approximately forty-nine steam engines
producing sixteen hundred horsepower, while the local Red Clay Creek could only
produce seven hundred horsepower before mechanical loses.25 These numbers speak
to the huge differential that engineers had developed in power from what was possible
from the natural world. The growth of steam engines had taken such a hold on the
country that many water based mills were converted to steam power by the 1830s. This
in turn increased manufacturing output and allowed for manufacturing to occur in urban
centers. Through the use of steam power, these urban centers would grow to foster
25
Pursell, pg. 174
20
American engineering and would increase development rate of new technologies in all
industries.
The growth of the engine and associated industrial technologies allowed for the
United States to catch up to England in manufacturing and engineering capabilities.
Although the United States consistently lagged behind England in development of the
steam engine, the sheer demand and production of steam engines to power new
industry pushed American engineers to quickly develop and implement new
technologies. The proliferation of steam not only allowed for manufacturing industries
such as food and wood production to thrive, it also spurred the improvement and
expansion of the coal and metal industries. This increase in the harnessing of natural
resources would provide the required resources to effectively develop the American
locomotive industry.26 Although many of the era’s technological advances are now lost
in the annals of the patent record, the inventors who produced steam power innovations
represent the origin of American engineers. With the desire to constantly improve and
push existing technology to more economical utility, these engineers built the foundation
for America’s technical dominance in the next century.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the steam engine was the driving force behind the
American Industrial Revolution. More importantly, the migration and adoption of steam
engine technology gave birth to the American engineer and built up the mental and
physical capacity that allowed the growing United States to claim economic and
technical dominance in later years. However, it was not through simple technology
26
Pursell, pg. 133
21
transfer that America gained its engineering authority. While the financially successful
endeavors of Fulton may speak to the benefits of the “buy, don’t build” mentality, the
disregarded innovations of engineers such as Fitch and Evans represent the true
American spirit of innovation and invention. These engineers took to their own means to
develop and implement steam engine technology without the assurance of financial
success. Amidst criticism and slander, they forged on to develop technologies that they
knew would produce a more efficient America. On this quest, they built up the spirit of
American innovation, training blacksmiths to be mechanics and building the
manufacturing capacity which would allow future engineers in the 1800s to rapidly meet
the growing demand for the ever expanding nation. It is this spirit for engineering
innovation, created by steam engine development, which has continued to secure
America’s technical dominance through the present and will be critical in carrying this
dominance forward into the future.
Bibliography
Ferguson, E. S. (1964). The Origins of the Steam Engine. Scientific American, 98-107.
Kirby, R. S., Withington, S., Darling, A. B., & Kilgour, F. G. (1990). Engineering in History. New
York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Leinhard, J. H. (2000). The Engines of Our Ingenuity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lubar, S. (1986). Engines of Change. Washington D.C.: National Museum of American
Historian.
Pursell, C. W. (1964). Early Stationary Steam Engines in America. Washington: Smithsonian
Institute Press.
22
Figure 1 - Newcomen steam engine27
27
Image source: http://192.197.62.35/staff/mcsele/images/newcdiag.jpg
23
Figure 2 - Watt steam engine28
28
Image source: http://www.uh.edu/engines/watt2.gif
24
Figure 3 - Fitch's first steamboat, Perseverance
Figure 4 - Evans' Columbian high pressure steam engine29
29
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27106/27106-h/images/fig-15.jpg
25
Figure 5 - John Fitch's first steamboat, "Perseverance"
26